Crawl
by Eren-get-in-my-jaeger
Summary: "They're hunting us." Notorious AU, set during Age of Extinction. OptimusxOC


**So I wrote this late one night...AoE killed me, man. So many feels.**

**Anywho, it got me in the mood, since I planned to write a sequel to Zora's arc (which never happened.) So here's a treat (a depressing treat) to anyone wondering how the whole OptimusxZora situation could/would play out during AoE. **

**This is sort of an AU for an AU...feel free to ignore it, but if I continue the series, there might be a happier ending in store. **

**Also, if you haven't read Notorious...might wanna go ahead and do that. Easier to follow along that way.**

* * *

In the blink of an eye, everything changed.

Zora had shut it all out, the pain. She'd watched Sam and Mikaela split. She'd watched Sentinel betray the mech she cared about most in the world. She'd watched him murder Ironhide, a comrade, and countless others.

She'd watched Chicago fall. She'd fought alongside Optimus, and they had won, the two of them.

Together. Her mech. Her partner.

Her other half.

And in the blink of an eye, everything changed.

* * *

"What the hell is Cemetery Wind?"

Optimus could hear the voice of William Lennox on the other end of the phone. In the background, his daughter, Annabelle, cooed happily for her father. Clothes rustled - Sarah spoke briefly, and Lennox pulled the phone away from his ear to answer

"They're hunting them - us," Zora answered frantically. The two-by-fours holding the tiny shed together creaked, and Optimus ducked his head even more. He had a finger against Zora's back to keep the girl from shaking; it pained him, seeing his mate so terrified. She was fearless, a warrior. She'd been through hell and back, and for the first time since Chicago, she looked frightened. Her lips were pressed together and she was leaning against Prime's finger for support, almost as if she were about to collapse.

"They told us...Mearing and all of them, they told us that they'd offered you guys refuge-"

"Mearing either lied, or she's being lied to. We're not safe, Will," Zora bit back a sudden sob. "Leadfoot, Topspin...they're gone. Sideswipe fled - I don't know where he is."

"Arcee?"

Zora sucked in a breath. Teary eyes glanced up at Optimus before she spoke about the fate of her guardian - the poor femme had been shot down and dragged off.

"Compromised."

Lennox cursed. In the background, his wife scolded him. But he said it again, anyway.

"What do you want me to do?"

Zora shuddered, wiping away a tear. "Nothing," she replied. "There's nothing you can do, Will. You've been an amazing ally, but I think we're done for."

"What? Don't say that- there has to be something we can do-"

"I just wanted to call, let you know...I won't be seeing you or Sarah again, alright? It's too dangerous-"

"Zora!"

"Goodbye."

Then she killed the line, and William Lennox's voice went dark. Her fingers hovered over the keys, and she sucked on her lower lip.

"Now Sam," she murmured. "Then Epps, then Mikaela. Then we head out, alright?"

Optimus, stricken with despair, could only nod.

* * *

"Sideswipe is dead. He was with Drift and Crosshairs," Ratchet said gruffly.

Zora was leaning against his alternate mode, gnawing on the end of a toothpick. Her boots were coated in dirt, and she wore a white shirt three sizes too big and a pair of shorts that fit just right. She'd stolen her pair of sunglasses - she'd been discreet about it.

She'd only used her powers once since the CIA had declared the Autobot's fair game. She'd killed someone - a spy. A former N.E.S.T soldier that had sold her and Optimus out for money.

It had been quick. Optimus was the only one who knew. It had felt good, too.

Killing had felt good.

"Better get used to it," she drawled, remaining silent when Ratchet huffed, his tires shifting in the dirt.

* * *

"You're perfect," Optimus murmured. He watched Zora wipe more tears away with her dirt covered shirt. Their little caravan - He, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Zora, had crossed over into Kansas. Drift and his small group were East bound to meet them; surely they'd split soon after. It was dangerous, all of them being in the same place together. Until they scanned new alternate modes there were too easy to spot. They didn't blend well.

The Autobots, or what was left of them, couldn't afford to be seen with flashy, expensive alternate modes. Not yet.

The group had stopped to recharge. Optimus had begrudgingly gone over their plans and Ratchet had reiterated before checking Bumblebee's injuries - he'd fled from Cemetery Wind first, having been in the midst of the confusion when CIA operatives had stormed in and shot down Mudflap, Skidz, and Mirage.

The little scout walked with his wings slouched. He seemed to enjoy Zora's company most - he was missing Sam and Carly...Mikaela, even.

His home.

They'd first allowed Zora to slip through a gas station - she'd taken some food (without pay and without getting caught) before rejoining the others. They were currently stopped for the night, Ratchet on high alert and Bumblebee resting. A few moments later, Ratchet fell into recharge and Bumblebee awoke to begin his patrol of the area.

Optimus sat, parked a good distance from Ratchet. Zora lay in his cab, on her back, fingers laced together.

"You awake, sweetspark?" Zora whispered.

"Yes."

Silence. Then, "I'm scared, you know. I miss Mikaela and Sam. And Arcee," she sucked in a breath. "This is shit. This is all shit. Things were going so well...the world was in order...then fucking Attinger and Cemetery Wind...fuck them. Fuck everyone who had anything to do with them..."

"Zora," Optimus chided. "Zora, please..."

"I'm sorry."

"I've run out of tears. Fuck," Zora sighed. "I can't cry anymore..."

"Just try and sleep..."

"This is all a bad dream, isn't it. Optimus, baby...please tell me this is all a bad dream. I'll wake up tomorrow in your arms and none of this would have happened..."

Optimus so desperately wanted to tell her otherwise. "This is real, Zora," was all he could muster. The truth. The cold, hard truth. "This is real, and no matter what happens...I love you. You are the other half of my spark."

Zora instinctively touched her heart, fingers curled into fist. After a beat, she spoke softly. "Can I...I don't want to waste any of this...please."

He was a hair away from activating his holoform, but she raised her hand, almost as if she'd read his mind. "No."

"No?" Optimus questioned. His cooling fans whirred and he shifted on his axels, curious.

"I just want..." she twisted her fingers together, unsure of how to word it.

"Remove your clothing."

Her socks were placed gently on the floor of the semi. Then her dirt-stained, baggy shirt and her shorts. She seemed confident - Optimus wasn't the one tearing, this time.

"I want you to tell me," Zora murmured. "This is for you," her fingers toyed with her undergarments, and Optimus felt a rush - primal. Protective of his mate.

She was offering herself to_ him._

_Take me._

"I trust you, and I trust myself," she whispered. Even as she removed the rest of her clothing, her heartbeat had increased its pace. A bead of sweat glided down her tan neck, the cold air tickling her perfect, round breasts. Optimus was enthralled.

"Touch yourself," it was more of a request than a command. She wasn't his soldier. Though he felt a rush when she did, her fingers dipping beneath soft folds. The made a noise that only Optimus picked up - a small, content sigh.

And when he requested for more, she obliged. Her toes curled around the soft cushions, her free hand gripping at his seat. Her wispy red hair stuck to her pink, parted lips.

"Harder, my dearspark..."

She looked heavenly, to Optimus. Like she'd been hand-carved by Primus himself. Her flesh was so pink, so alive and warm...

"Stop."

She did. Her fingers twitched and she opened her eyes, letting out a deeper moan as she tilted her head.

His holoform blinked into existence. Zora made a noise of irritation, her slick fingers tracing patterns against her stomach. Through her arousal she managed to say, "sweetspark...baby, what did I tell you...that isn't you-"

"I am returning the favor," he drawled. He ducked his head, peppering kisses against her breasts, then her stomach and between her thighs. "You know that I love you. Let me," he breathed.

"Optimus," Zora murmured, tangling long, strong fingers in his holoform's hair. "I love you. I love you."

They breathed that to each other all night, between kisses and touches and squeezes.

And in those moments, the horrific world around them no longer existed.

* * *

The next week, even after they met up with Drift and the others...they felt giddy.

Optimus lost count of how many times he and Zora made love. Much more than usual. Enough that Ratchet took to notice but didn't say anything.

He lost count of how many times he said that he loved her. Said that she was perfect. Thanked Primus for her existence.

Even when he turned bitter due to the humans betrayal, she was there to comfort him. If not through words, then through sex. And almost every night she touched herself and said that it was for him.

Six months into their run, something changed.

In the blink of an eye.

Cemetery Wind found them. Bumblebee and Ratchet managed to flee. Drift stayed behind and fought- Primus knows how many humans fell, bones shattered, hearts ceasing to beat.

In the blink of an eye, Zora was shot in the leg. She felt and her head hit the concrete.

Drift stopped. Bumblebee, as if it were a trigger, abandoned Ratchet as they began to drive off and came back, bowling over humans. He reached for Zora but before he could reach her, his hand was blown from his body.

He howled and Drift swept him up, dragging him off.

Zora was screaming at Optimus to run, to get away, while she was crawling.

_Don't take her._

_They took her._

* * *

What they did to her was a crime against heaven itself.

Cemetery Wind had tabs on William Lennox, Robert Epps, Mikaela Banes, Sam Witwicky, Carly Spencer...Seymour Simmons, everyone who had been affiliated with N.E.S.T in the past.

So Savoy sent the footage. It had been his idea. He hadn't butchered any of it out - why not. Attinger had made the 'ok' sign with his man-hands.

Of course, Attinger himself hadn't seen all the footage. Some of it was private. A keepsake for Savoy. Zora Parker had been his prize.

He should have gotten a goddamn promotion.

Zora Parker, the little bitch, had been screaming and spitting and biting. A cattle prod to her tongue had shut her up, just for a little while.

Savoy had enjoyed that. Watching her tongue swell up. Then he'd personally removed her eyes, then her hands. He'd sent them to Joshua Joyce and, as Attinger had put it, he'd turned "a little green."

That was where the footage ended.

Then the real, ungodly fun began.

* * *

Savoy had left her on display. He'd abandoned his lab, had gotten all his information. The scraps had been left for the dogs.

Optimus found his mate skinned from head to toe, her legs and arms missing.

Her head was in a capsule on the other end of the facility.

* * *

He went mad. The story didn't end well. Primus had forsaken him.

He wanted to tear out his own spark. Half of his was gone, anyway.

* * *

_"Humans have a word for that," Cade said, pressing his lips together. "It's called a soul."_

_"Yes. And mine's been...damaged."_

* * *

**_End._**


End file.
